Long had they, but all day long were they drifting in aimless wise. {1540}
And as writheth a serpent along his crooked path, when beat
The rays of the sun on the land, and scorch him with fiercest heat,
And with hissing to this side and that side he turneth his head, and his eyne,
Like unto sparks that leap from the furnace, glitter and shine
For his fury, until to his lair through a cleft of the rock he may creep;
So Argo, seeking a mouth of the mere, a fairway deep,
Long time tacked to and fro. Then Orpheus suddenly spake,
That Apollo’s massy tripod forth of the ship they should take,
And propitiate the Gods of the land therewith for their home-going’s sake.